XI
"Ugh!"
"Farron?"
"I-I'm fine. Just concentrate!"
Lightning swore under her breath when she tried to move. She removed her hand from her side, glanced down at the blood on her undershirt then continued to shoot at the creatures surrounding the platoon. Broken armour... That'd come out of her salary...
With a grunt, she flipped back, shooting as she did so.
Her comrades took the opportunity and caught the monsters off guard, killing them all.
Lightning fell to her knees in relief.
The others cheered. "Mission accomplished, guys! Let's get back to Bodhum!"
"Lightning, you alright?" one of the male soldiers asked, squatting to see her face.
Lightning nodded. "Fine, thank you."
She got up, hand pressed to her hip. She'd have to put in some effort if she wanted to keep this from Serah...
-
When Serah got home, Lightning was there. She was never there.
"What happened?" Serah asked with a furrowed brow.
Lightning looked up. "Nothing" she lied.
Serah raised an eyebrow. "You're sure?"
Lightning nodded.
"A-alright... You're home early, though."
"Yeah, we got everything done for today, I guess" Lightning muttered.
Serah smiled heartily.
"That's good, I'll get dinner started!"
Lightning sighed and stood when she knew Serah was out of the way. Sitting down hurt. She rubbed at her hip, which had been bound when they got back.
She didn't like leaving work early; it felt weird, even if she was injured.
"Claire!?"
Shit.
Lightning's head shot up. "U-uh..."
"Claire, what the hell!? You told me you wouldn't get hurt!" Serah stumbled over to her, inspecting the blood-stained bandage tied around her waist. "This looks really bad..."
"It's not, I'm fi—" she winced when Serah pressed into the wound.
"See? That hurt, didn't it? That's why you got sent home! Claire, you promised!"
"Well of course it's going to hurt if you press it like that!" Lightning snapped back, stepping forward.
Serah flinched, holding her arms in front of her face to defend herself... Defend herself... from what...?
Lightning calmed down. "Serah... I'm not going to hurt you" she breathed.
Serah lowered her arms and looked away. "You promised me..."
"It's just a little scratch, I'll be fine. I'm going back to work tomorrow, I'll be fine."
"You're going back to that death trap!?"
Lightning raised an eyebrow, while stepping back in recoil.
"What do you expect me to do; quit? We've had this conversation, I—"
"Whatever. I'm going to bed." Serah interjected.
"It's still early" Lightning murmured.
But Serah had already slammed her bedroom door behind her.
With a groan, Lightning fell back into her chair, dropping her head on the table with a bang.
Serah as a teenager... Lightning wasn't liking it very much...
-
I'm actually quite happy with this chapter... Strange...
I feel honoured that people actually take the time to read these. I want to thank everyone, you've been such a boost to my self-esteem :P. I wanted to do this because I haven't been able to reply to many people's reviews, which really makes me feel guilty. I don't have the right words to say most of the time :(
So, thank you, thank you, thank you for your idea.
If I get enough inspiration, I may do more chapters after fifteen.
Thank you again.
Feel free to review, please.